Are you exhausted at the end of the school year? Do you wish your spring break was earlier? Many students complain about how long March is and how much they wish could have a break.
Do you have a sibling in college? People miss their siblings who have gone to college or live elsewhere and find it hard staying motivated during the spring semester. For these students trying to align their break with their siblings, a change may be favorable. This begs the question: should all high schools change their spring break from April to March?
Even though changing the time of spring break could be useful, I believe that changing the time of spring break is unnecessary. I think this because regardless of siblings coming home, high school students are still likely to be involved in some type of time commitment, especially spring sports.
Another thing is that while college students may have a longer time off, high school students only have one week’s vacation. There could be some colleges where their break doesn’t even align with high schools spring break.
But on the other hand spending quality time with loved ones is proved to benefit students: “As beneficial as it is for young people to be a part of a school community, taking time away from homework, tests, practices, and rehearsals is a vital and deserved break for students during the holiday season…Spending time with loved ones over the holiday break is crucial for students for several reasons that contribute to their overall well-being and development.” This article by the Windermere Preparatory school stressed the importance of spending breaks and holidays with family. Though it would be nice for students to have a break at the same time as their siblings, it isn’t necessary. This is because students would still get to see them at home even if they aren’t off school.
Another thing to consider is student burn out. With so much on students’ plate in the second semester, an article by Lorna Ding suggests a solution: “To alleviate the stress on students, the school should consider moving spring break, which takes place from March 31 to April 7 this year, to mid-March. This shortens the time between winter break and spring break, allowing students to rest more frequently and preventing burnout.” Though this is a good idea, I personally think it is too close in time to February break.
For Sutton, February break is the 15th-23rd of February. If spring break was only a couple weeks later I would lose motivation. This lack of motivation has been proven and was talked about by Bennett Ismert in his article on students losing motivation during breaks, specifically spring: “Going from one extreme to another can be overwhelming and lead to difficulty readjusting after break. Upon entering break mode, it can be challenging to discover a healthy and effective balance between relaxation and education.”
Breaks can be extremely hard for students to come back from, so putting two breaks roughly two weeks a part would have a negative impact because students could lose motivation but then have two to three months of school left with absolutely no breaks. The break mid-April gives students the time to catch up on work, study for finals, and most importantly let their brain rest before the grueling end of the school year.
While yes, I think there are so many pros to having spring break in March, I truly think switching it up will mess up students productively and will show very limited gain for students with older siblings. For right now April break works just fine and unless that changes I find it extraordinarily unnecessary for schools to change it.
